Bassett-Lowke

Bassett-Lowke was a toy company, based in Northampton, England founded by Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke in 1898 or 1899 that specialized in model railways, model boats and ships, and construction sets. Bassett-Lowke initially started as a mail-order catalogue business and primarily remained so, although it sometimes designed and even manufactured some of its own items.

Overview

Bassett-Lowke was primarily a sales organisation, contracting out the manufacture of models and parts to other manufacturers, such as Twining Models, and Wintringham's also of Northampton. While the company is presently known for its model trains, the company had a long history of contracting out for the manufacture of model ships. Prior to, and during, World War One the company contracted with a firm referred to in Bassett-Lowke catalogs as "B M C". There is some confusion as to what the letters "BMC" stood for, current internet sellers have identified it variously as "Birmingham Metal Company" or "Brighten Metal Company". The collaboration between Bassett-Lowke and B M C produced a model fleet that represented every class of ship in the British navy from the period of 1885 through 1916 including tugs, troop ships and even the royal yacht. The models were formed using the hollowcast lead technique with the wire masts cast into the hulls. The models were painted and issued in numbered sets. there were paper flags included with each set to be cut out and applied to the models. The scale of the models was described in the Bassett-Lowke catalogue as "one inch equals eighteen hundred inches". While the models were rudimentary by later standards, every class of vessal in the series was easily recognizable by the number of funnels, and the placement of guns and masts. The series may have been discontinued during World War One since the last vessels produced were of ships commissioned in about 1916. Possibly the series was abandoned due to wartime rationing of metal. Later copies of these models appear for sale from time to time on the internet. These copies can be distinguished from the originals which were hollowcast. Two type of copies are common, the first are cast in solid lead with no wire masts and large numbers inscribed on the bottom. The second type are in potmetal and represent three ship classes from the original sets: the King Edward VII, Lord Nelson, and Swiftsure. During world war II, a line of wood and wire ship models in the 1 to 1250 scale was issued under the Bassett-Lowke sponsorship for military contracts. unlike the earlier rudimentary B M C lead models, these wood and wire models are highly detailed and command a very high price from today's collectors.

Bassett-Lowke produced trains in a variety of sizes, from convert|15|in|mm|sing=on gauge live steam models to Gauge 2, Gauge 1, and 0 gauge.

Their first 15-inch gauge steam locomotive, test run on the Eaton Hall Railway in 1905 was "Little Giant." Unlike other engines on the line it was a replica of main-line locos, being built for a new public miniature railway at Blackpool. It was a quarter scale 4-4-2 Atlantic tender engine, though not an exact copy of any particular prototype. This engine still exists in private ownership.

In 1914, Bassett-Lowke produced only the second Pacific 4-6-2 (of any size) to be built in Britain (the first was GWR 111 The Great Bear). This was the "John Anthony," built for a private miniature railway at Staughton Manor. It was never delivered, but after storage at Eaton Hall during World War I, it was sold to the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway and renamed "Colossus." It was scrapped in 1927. Previously the Ravenglass and Eskdale had purchased another Bassett Lowke Atlantic, the "Sans Pareil."

In the 1920s, Bassett-Lowke introduced 00 gauge products as well. The company would also provide a complete custom-build railway service for those with necessary funds; one such layout survives in modified format at Bekonscot Model Village in England.

Bassett-Lowke's decline starting in the late 1950s can be blamed on at least two factors: Sometimes people would browse the firm's free catalogue and then buy similar or nearly identical items elsewhere at a lower price, but also consumer interest in technical toys in general began to decline in the late 1950s and even more so in the 1960s. Bassett-Lowke's fall was mirrored by two of its U.S. counterparts, the A. C. Gilbert Company and Lionel Corporation.

However, the 1960s were also to bring their problems, and in 1964 the company ceased its retail sales and sold its shops, including the famous one at High Holborn in London, to Beatties. The original Bassett-Lowke went out of business in 1965.

In 1966 the company was acquired by Messrs Riley and Derry, and in the late 1980s by Nigel Turner, a Northampton businessman.

In 1993 the name was revived for a while with short-run white metal models. These included a Burrell Type Traction Engine, Clayton Undertype Steam Wagon, Burrell Type Steam Roller, and London 'B' Type bus.

The brand name was in 1996 acquired by Corgi, which has now linked it with live steam 0 gauge locomotives.

Because of the premium nature of Bassett-Lowke's toys, they tended to be well preserved, and many examples survive today. They are highly collectible.

Key competitors to Bassett-Lowke were Hornby and Exley.

Narrow Gauge Railways Ltd

In 1912 W. J. Bassett-Lowke, Robert Proctor-Mitchell and John Wills set up Narrow Gauge Railways Ltd (NGR) to promote and run convert|15|in|mm|sing=on gauge railways. An earlier company, Miniature Railways of Great Britain Ltd, went into voluntary liquidation in 1912.

NGR's first railway was opened in 1912 at Luna Park in the Parc des Eaux-Vives, Geneva, Switzerland. In Britain, the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway was taken over, converted to convert|15|in|mm|sing=on gauge and re-opened in 1915. The Fairbourne Railway followed in 1916.

Locomotives

Bassett-Lowke locomotives were often re-named when moved to new sites and it is sometimes uncertain whether a locomotive is a new one, or an old one with a new name. The following list (which is probably incomplete) should not be regarded as definitive. Most of Bassett-Lowke's locomotives were designed by Henry Greenly who was a notable contributor to Model Engineer magazine.

Class 10 Atlantic

* "Little Giant" for Blackpool
* "Mighty Atom" for Sutton Coldfield
* "Entente Cordiale" for the 1909 Exposition Internationale de l'Est de France at Nancy
* "Red Dragon" for the Imperial International Exhibition of 1909 at White City, London
* "Green Dragon" same as "Red Dragon"
* "King Edward" for the 1910 International and Universal Exhibition at Brussels, Belgium
* "King Albert" same as King Edward
* "King Leopold" same as King Edward
* "George the Fifth" for Southport

Class 20 Atlantic

* "Prince of Wales" for Southport

Class 30 Atlantic

* "Synolda" for Sand Hutton Railway, then to Belle Vue, Manchester, later Southend-on-Sea, currently Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway.
* "Sans Pareil" for Luna Park, Geneva, Switzerland, then to Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway.
* "Count Louis" for Count Louis Zborowski, then to Fairbourne Railway.

Class 60 Pacific

* "John Anthony" for J.E.P. Howey, then (re-named "Colossus") to Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway.

The Class 10 and Class 20 had narrow fireboxes. The Class 30 and Class 60 had wide fireboxes.

ee also

* Model Engineer magazine
* Ridable miniature railway

References

* Mosley, D. and van Zeller, P. (1986) "Fifteen inch gauge railways : their history, equipment and operation", Newton Abbot : David & Charles, ISBN 0-7153-8694-8

* Fuller, Roland; Levy Allen "The Bassett-Lowke Story", New Cavendish, ISBN 0904568342 / 9780904568349

External links

* [http://www.78derngate.org.uk/ Home of Bassett Lowke]
* http://www.bassettlowke.co.uk
* http://www.bassettlowkesociety.org.uk
* http://www.lickeyincline.co.uk